


never trust those elves

by somethinglikegumption



Series: most wonderful time of the year [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 15:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17062196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethinglikegumption/pseuds/somethinglikegumption
Summary: Betty's fine dressing up as an elf to earn money for college, until her secret crush Jughead Jones decides to bring his sister to meet Santa.





	never trust those elves

**Author's Note:**

> This came from [milkshakesandmurders](https://milkshakesandmurders.tumblr.com/) prompting "working as an elf for Santa at the mall".
> 
> Title comes from Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town by Relient K.

Betty never really understood the people who wrote in to that FML website. There were so many things to be thankful for and appreciate in the world, it seemed useless to focus on the one bad thing that had happened that week.

Of course, that was before she applied to work as one of Santa’s elves at the Old Riverdale Mall.

A whole month of crying, screaming, and in some cases, full-on temper tantrums on the floor was not worth the few hundred dollars she would get to add to her college fund on December 26th.

As the Saturday before Christmas dawned, Betty was contemplating sitting down to write her own FML story. Early opening and late closing hours meant she was looking at twelve straight hours of candy canes, crying children, and creepy come-ons from the old guy the mall management had hired to play Santa. 

It was with trepidation that she opened the employee door that day, already seeing the hustle and bustle of the photographer and manager turning on lights, organizing candy, and going over the book of pre-scheduled appointments. Betty dove right in, bells on her hat and shoes jingling as she carried rope stanchions to the front to start setting up the line.

An hour and a cup of coffee later, a line had formed of exasperated parents pushing strollers or holding hands of kids who were already telling anyone who would listen what they were asking Santa for that year. 

When Santa arrived, the noise was almost deafening. 

Betty and the photographer were getting them in and out as fast as they could, barely leaving time between kids to ask for the next child’s name to prep Santa. That explained why she missed Jughead Jones in line, standing next to a younger girl who was smiling and talking a mile a minute.

Betty’s crush on Jughead was known to pretty much everyone but him, ever since first grade when he had pushed Reggie Mantle in the mud for using his watercolors to paint the ends of her ponytail blue.

She had blessed him with a kiss on the cheek, starting years of pining from afar for Betty and careless ignorance for Jughead.

Only her willpower kept her in place because her sense of dignity was screaming at her to run and keep him from seeing her in this stupid outfit. Unfortunately, he made it to the front of the line before she could escape.

“Betty Cooper?” he asked, leaning over the velvet rope. “Is that you?”

“I’m Jingles the Christmas elf! Who’s Betty Cooper?” she replied, rattling off the corporate-approved language for the benefit of the young girl standing next to Jughead. “And who might this young lady be? Someone on the nice list I hope?”

The little girl giggled and held up a small hand to Betty. “My name is Jellybean, but Santa will know me as Forsythia Jones.”

“Well  _Jellybean,_  I think Santa would recognize you even with a nickname!” Unclasping the rope, she waved Jellybean and Jughead through. Jellybean bounded straight up to Santa, who heard Betty’s line and greeted her by name. 

Jughead paused next to Betty and watched Jellybean with Santa, a wistful smile on his face.

“Spending money or saving money?” he asked, and Betty leaned in to whisper in his ear. 

“Going to the college fund. It’s nice of you to bring your sister,” she said, keeping an eye out for any screamers in line. 

“She’ll be too old for it soon, so I figured I should do it. Wish I would have known you were working here before.” He reached up and jingled one of the bells on her hat. “I would have come sooner.” 

The photographer waved Betty over before she could process Jughead’s words, but the sly wink he tossed her made his intentions clear.

“She wants her brother in the picture,” the man told her, and Jellybean’s face lit up when Betty turned and gestured for Jughead to join her. The shock was clear on his face, and he tried to shake his head. 

“Please Jug?” Jellybean begged, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. Betty turned to him again.

“Yeah, please Jug?” Betty said, copying Jellybean’s look. 

Jughead’s gaze went dark for a moment before he joined Jellybean and stood at Santa’s shoulder. 

His smile was short, but it took Betty’s breath away. As soon as the camera flashed, Santa was bustling Jellybean off his knee, the photographer was giving them pickup instructions, and Betty was quietly following them to the exit.

She grabbed two candy canes from the basket and held them out to the siblings. 

“Have a very merry Christmas!” she said, forcing her best Cooper smile.

Jellybean unwrapped the candy and started munching away, heading for the photo desk. Jughead paused at Betty’s shoulder.

“Hey Jingles,” he said, flicking the name tag on her shirt. “Tell Betty Cooper she looks cute today. And tell her she owes me a trip to the movies after Christmas as payback for forcing me to pose with Santa.”

Off he went after Jellybean, and Betty left herself a brief second to smile and giggle before returning to the crowd.


End file.
